Results 2,601-2,620 of 4,893 for speaker:Séamus Brennan

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (21 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The supplementary welfare allowance scheme is administered on my behalf by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive. Neither I nor my Department has any function in relation to decisions on individual claims. A mortgage interest supplement provides short-term income support to eligible people who are unable to meet their mortgage interest repayments in respect of a house...

Written Answers — Security of the Elderly: Security of the Elderly (21 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The carer's allowance is a social assistance payment which provides income support to people who are providing certain older people or people with a disability with full time care and attention and whose incomes fall below a certain limit. In line with other social assistance schemes, a means test is applied to the carer's allowance so as to ensure that limited resources are directed to those...

Written Answers — Security of the Elderly: Security of the Elderly (21 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 456, 457 and 472 together. Support for carers has been a priority of Government since 1997. Payments to carers have been greatly improved over that period and qualifying conditions for carers allowance have been significantly eased, coverage of the scheme has been extended and new schemes such as carers benefit and the respite care payment have been...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (21 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: PRSI Class D, provides social insurance coverage for permanent and pensionable employees in the public and civil service who were recruited prior to 6 April 1995. Historically, most public servants did not pay full social insurance cover as their occupational pension arrangements were different from people outside the Civil Service and public service. Public servants employed after April...

Written Answers — Departmental Programmes: Departmental Programmes (21 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: My Department has an ongoing programme to develop information and communications technology, ICT, systems to support delivery of a first class service to customers. The current development programme is an early step towards achieving, inter alia, a comprehensive system which would provide full advice to customers on all entitlements. It will take some years, however, for the Department to be...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (21 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The group in question aids and assists families and individuals who have experienced suicide by a loved one, by way of counselling and bereavement support on an individual and a group basis. The group first applied for funding to the Family Support Agency in 2005. The agency administers the scheme of grants to voluntary organisations providing marriage counselling services, marriage...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (21 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which includes rent supplement, is administered on my behalf by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive. Neither I nor my Department has any function in respect of decisions on individual claims. The executive has advised that it received an application for rent supplement from the person concerned on 1 March 2006. It has...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (21 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The person concerned applied for disability allowance on 3 November 2005. The principal conditions for receipt of disability allowance are that the medical eligibility criteria are met and that the means test which applies is satisfied. While he satisfied the medical criteria for award of disability allowance the means of the person concerned which were derived from a private pension and...

Written Answers — Family Support Services: Family Support Services (21 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 464 and 465 together. With regard to younger carers, I recognise that special help, advice and support is essential for young carers who are often caring for a parent and in particular, that services must be put in place to support the household and to ensure that young carers remain at school. These include the services of home helps, public health nurses and...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Fraud: Social Welfare Fraud (21 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The detection of fraud and abuse of the social welfare system is an integral part of the day to day work of my Department. In this regard all staff engaged in claims processing are concerned with preventing and detecting fraud and abuse. Controls are exercised at both the initial claim stage and at subsequent stages during the claim life-cycle. Claims are reviewed on a regular and targeted...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (21 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The main data on poverty levels in Ireland are derived from the annual EU survey on income and living conditions, EU-SILC. Results for the second year of the survey, 2004, were published by the Central Statistics Office, CSO, on 12 December 2005. The survey results do not break down poverty rates by county, as the survey sample size is too small. The survey does, however, provide a regional...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (21 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: Water supply is a matter for my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. Under his department's rural water programme, grants are available through the county councils for the upgrading and improvement of a quality deficient private group water scheme supply or the improvement of a private individual supply in cases where an alternative public or group...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (21 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The supplementary welfare allowance scheme which is administered on my behalf by the community welfare staff of the Health Service Executive is one of a number of social assistance schemes which, with effect from 1 May 2004, is subject to a habitual residence condition. The effect of the condition is that a person whose habitual residence or centre of interest is deemed to be other than in...

Written Answers — Social Insurance: Social Insurance (21 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The person concerned retired from the ESB in March 2004 and is in receipt of an occupational pension from the company since that date. No PRSI is payable on the person's occupational pension. The pension income is liable to deduction of the 2% health levy, class K, provided income exceeds the levy threshold of €440 per week. This liability will cease when the person reaches the age of 70.

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (21 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: In dealing with telephone inquiries, the aim of my Department is to ensure that all inquiries made to any of the Department's lo-call numbers are answered quickly, competently, courteously and with due regard to the needs of the callers. The pensions services office in Sligo administers a number of schemes, including old age contributory and non-contributory pension and retirement pension,...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (21 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The social welfare pension rights of those who take time out of the workforce for caring duties are protected by the home-makers scheme which was introduced from 1994. From this the scheme allows up to 20 years spent caring for children or incapacitated adults to be disregarded when a person's social insurance record is being averaged for pension purposes. However, the scheme will not of...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (21 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which includes rent supplement, is administered on my behalf by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive. Neither I nor my Department has any function in decisions on individual claims. The person concerned is in receipt of one parent family payment and half-rate disability benefit from my Department. The Health Service...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (21 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which includes rent supplement, is administered on my behalf by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive. Neither I nor my Department has any function in decisions on individual claims. Under standard supplementary welfare allowance rules, rent supplements are normally calculated to ensure that a person, after the payment of...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (21 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which includes rent supplement, is administered on my behalf by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive. Neither I nor my Department has any function in decisions on individual claims. One of the conditions for entitlement to rent supplement is that an applicant must be deemed by the local authority to have a genuine housing...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (21 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The person concerned was in receipt of unemployment assistance at the maximum weekly rate of €165.80 from 8 February 2006. However, it came to light that she should have been assessed with means from parental income. A deciding officer assessed her with means at €69 a week from 8 March 2006, derived from the value of board and lodgings. This assessment entitles her to payment of...